MIKAEL KARLSSON

COMPOSER

A Swedish-born composer who lives and works in New York, Mikael writes music for opera, ballet, modern dance, orchestra and chamber ensembles . His music is performed frequently at festivals, opera houses and concert halls in Europe and the United States . His commissions for dance include works for The Paris Opera (Play - Ekman), The Norwegian Opera and Ballet (Rooms, A Swan Lake, Resin – Ekman; Player – Proietto), Vienna State Opera (Blanc - Proietto), the Royal Swedish Opera and Ballet (Tyll, Midsummer Night’s Dream - Ekman), etc. His first opera, The Echo Drift, premiered at the Prototype Festival in NYC in 2018.

ROYCE VAVREK

LIBRETTIST

Royce Vavrek has “shaken up the timid, backward-looking business of American opera” (The New Yorker). He has been called “an exemplary creator of operatic prose” (The New York Times) and “one of the most celebrated and sought after librettists in the world” (CBC Radio). His opera Angel’s Bone with composer Du Yun was awarded the 2017 Pulitzer Prize for Music. Other collaborations include extensive work with Missy Mazzoli, David T. Little, Ricky Ian Gordon, Paola Prestini, Gregory Spears, Ellen Reid, Matt Marks, and Joshua Schmidt.